© Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Red Bull’s outgoing Chief Technical Officer Adrian Newey has given his first reaction to the FIA’s newly revealed 2026 Formula 1 regulations.
While the whole Formula 1 world is wondering where Adrian Newey will end up after he leaves Red Bull in early 2025, the design guru has given his first thoughts on the FIA’s newly revealed 2026 Formula 1 rules.
“We know the rough principles of what the FIA is trying to achieve, which was initially a desire for a 50-50 combustion engine-electric mix,” Newey said.
“Whether that’s a good direction or not, it’s probably best I don’t comment. There is a drive to make the cars a bit lighter but the reality is it’s a heavy power unit, so there is only so far you can go.
“There is also a drive to make the cars more aerodynamically efficient, which I totally agree with and support.
“Unfortunately we suffer the same problem in motorsport as the industry: we end up working to a very prescribed and prescriptive set of regulations.
“In general, the drive is for zero tailpipe emissions by… well, whenever the moving target settles. It seems the wrong thing to me.”
He then suggested a system he would favour going forward in F1.
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“This is the approach I’d prefer: we want to make the automobile less damaging to the planet, this is what you need to achieve, prescribe the make-up of the damage to the planet, set a broad set of limits and off you go – instead of zero tailpipe emissions which effectively means it’s either battery or hydrogen, neither of which currently reach the levels of performance we expect for grand prix racing’s format.
Newey also said he believe the FIA is favouring certain manufacturers over others.
“The FIA appears to be heavily influenced by one or two manufacturers, in the hope they will appease those manufacturers but also perhaps attract others in.
“I suppose since Audi are coming in for 2026 there has been a partial success in this regard, but I’m not sure it’s worth the overall compromise of what could be achieved.
“The reality is manufacturers come and go, with the exception of Ferrari. It’s the teams that are core to the business and then of course the big actual core is the viewing public.
“So it’s essential we provide a good show and as part of that variety is proven to be well rewarded,” the Briton concluded.
